The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1887-09-24
TEMPER.
The Reason why Some Husbands are Quiet
and Sedate.

The Reason why Some Husbands are Quiet
and Sedate.
Forinightp Rcricw.
The admixture of different tempcrs
among the brothers and sisters of the
same family is a notable fact due to vari-
GUS causes which act in different direc-
tions. l. is best to consider them before
we proceed to collect evidence and at
tempt its Interpretation. 1t is clear
enough and may be taken for granted,
that the tempers Of progenitors do not
readily blend in the offspring, but that
some of the children take mainly after
one of them, some after another, but
with few threads as it were, is various
ancestral tempers woven in, which mani
fest themselves. If no other influences
interviewed, the tempers of the children
in the same family would on this account
be almost as varied as those of their an
cestors, who married at haphazard, SO far
as their tempeIs are concerned; therefore
the numbers of good or bad children in
families would be regulated by the same
laws of chance that apply to a gambling
table. But there are other influences to
be considered. There is well-known
tendency to family likeness among broth
ers and sisters which is not due to the
blending Of ancestral peculiarities, but
to the prepotence of one of the progeni-
| tors, who las stamped more than his fair
share of qualities upon the children. 1t
may also be due to familiar occurrence
| that deserves but has not yet received a
distinctive name-namely, where all the
| children are alike and yet their common
| likeness can not be traced to their pro-
genitors. A new variety has come into
existence through u process not of in
dividuals, but OF "cofraternaP' variation.
The most strongly marked family type
that have personally met with arose
simultaneously in the three brothers of a
family who transmitted their peculiari-
ties with unusual tenacity to numerous
descendants through at least two genera
tions. Other Influences act in antagonsm
to the foregoing; they are the events of
domestic life, which instead of assimila-
ting tempers tend to accentuate slight
differences in them. Thus if some MEM
bers of a family are little submissive by
nature, others who are naturally a little
domineering are tempted to become more
so. Then the acquired habit of dictation
in these reacts upon the others and makes
them still more submissive. Iu the col
lection made of histories of twins who
were closely alike, the statement was
constantly met with that one of the
twins was guided by the other. l sup
pose that after many childish struggles
for supremacy, each finally discovered
his own relative strength of character
and thenceforth the stronger developed
into the leader, while the weaker con-
tentedly subsidized into the position of be-
ing led. Again, it is sometimes observed
that member of an asy-going family
discovers that he or she may exercise
considerable power by adopting the habit
of being persistently disagreeable when
ever be or she does not get the first and
best of everything. Some wives try to
| tyrannize over husbands who are mild
and sensitive, who hate family scenes and
dread the disgrace attending chem, by
| holding themselves in readiness to fly
into a passion whenever their wishes are
withst"od. They thus acquire habit of
"breaking out, to use term familiar
to the wardens of female prisons and lu-
matte asylums, and though their relatives
and connections would describe their
tempers by severe epithets, yet if they
had married masteiiul husbands their
characters might have developed more
favorably.